


love, uninterrupted

by lusterrdust



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, bughead - Freeform, slight-nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 16:15:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10222286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lusterrdust/pseuds/lusterrdust
Summary: "Almost like an epiphany, she saw him—really saw him. Like sunlight peeking out from foggy mist, he was clarity, pure and true. She opened her eyes and he was new before her, yet… the same." [bughead, slight nsfw]





	

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd

▱◯♕  
_“She knew she loved him when home went from being a place to being a person.”_  
_—E. Leventhal_  
◯

What is it that causes a person to fall in love?

Is it the look in someone’s eye? Is it the declaration of promises and sureties that flow like honey off their lips? Is it fast and hard-hitting, a blaze of raw starlight in the hearts of two people?

Or, is slow and burning like the embers of a rising fire—building with every small breath breathed into it?

For Betty, it's a mix of both.

So sudden had been the rise of feelings inside her, ignited by an unexpected kiss from an unexpected friend.

_‘Hey there, Juliet’_

Her heart had stuttered at his words at first, leaving her briefly puzzled as to why.

At least, puzzled until he kissed her. Until a moment washed over her, raising peace in the hands and tender lips of Jughead Jones.

Almost like an epiphany, she saw him— _really_ saw him. Like sunlight peeking out from foggy mist, he was clarity, pure and true. She opened her eyes and he was new before her, yet… the same. In all the good ways, of course. In all the ways she was able to see without the full veil of limerence for the boy next door blinding her.

And yet, as hard and fast as Betty’s feelings for Jughead had hit her, the pace of their relationship was slow and unhurried.

It was the feeling of being in that sweet in-between of waking up on a lazy Sunday morning—caught in the limbo of hazy consciousness and tranquil slumber. Unrushed, unforced.

Maybe that’s why they’ve lasted so long. Even through the trials and tests of situations and events bigger than themselves—maybe their slow and steady wins the race.

Even after a year together, it feels new.

It feels new in the empty shower stall he’d drug her into after her cheer practice.

“Betty—“

Jughead has a way with words, Betty knows this. His vocabulary and intellect are two of the many things about him she loves; however, she won’t deny she’s puddled in the moments he’s at a loss for them.

Fingers digging into the waistband of her cheer skirt, sweater on the floor, Betty lifts her hips upward to rub against him, delighting in the shaky breath he exhales over her neck.

“You’re supposed to be working on the editorial,” she breathes out, tilting her head until it hits the tiles behind her as his tongue traces her pulse point.

“You really want to talk about the paper?” Jughead grunts out a laugh, moving his fingers from her waistband to the bloomers underneath, pulling the elastic and releasing it with a small snap against her skin. “Right now?”

Betty shivers and grips one strap of his suspenders before snapping it back. “It’s an important piece.”

“Ah, yes, _‘The Rationalizations for Procrastination.’”_ Jughead raises a brow slightly, his lips twitching to withhold a smirk. “What kind of journalist would I be if I didn’t follow my art to a T and test it for myself?”

His cheeky remark riles her, and Betty grabs his face, pulling him in for a heated kiss.

There’s a swell of pleasured pride at the startled noise he makes for it and she moans quietly at the sound. Feeling confident, she turns them around, further shocking him as her hands push his back against the tiled wall before moving to unbutton his flannel.

She hears his ragged breath and feels the race of his heart under her palm. Betty presses herself flush against him and lets her eyes flicker over his features hazily.

“Procrastination isn’t very responsible, Juggie. In fact, it’s very…” Her eyes catch his own and she bites her lip. His pupils dilate as his gaze intensifies, hanging onto her breathless words with rapt attention. “…naughty.”

Jughead’s brows shoot up at her brazenness and swallows thickly, shuffling on his feet. “Betts—“

“Shh,” Betty presses a finger against his lips, emboldened by the flush on his neck and increased breathing. Despite the small flair of bashfulness for being so bold, she also feels _empowered_.

Even more so over the fact that Jughead’s stated numerous occasions that she, and she alone, is the only woman to make him feel this way.

_“You’re the only one who makes me feel this…need—this want, Betty.  Only you.”_

It’s a declaration of devotion, if anything.

Yet, this knowledge in mind, Betty’s more than grateful to be the one to see this side of him. She’s grateful to witness the stoic and witty Jughead Jones softened to pellucidity and lost words at her touch alone.

Jughead groans under her finger and kisses the tip of it still pressed against his lips.

“You,” she begins, tugging the strap of his suspenders and pushing them off his shoulders under his unbuttoned flannel before spreading her fingers over the bare chest revealed to her. Moving down to the thin hair trailing below his belt, Betty inhales not so quietly at the way his abdomen contracts at her touch.

“I want to touch you…” she whispers wantonly after a moment of quiet, looking up at him demurely. “Can I touch you, Juggie?”

Jughead’s swallow is audible as his own hands roam her waist and up the curves of her breasts. “Are you—yes—“

There’s a loud bang from the adjoined locker room and Betty and Jughead jump apart from one another with a breakneck speed. A conversation between two girls, Betty grabs her sweater off the damp floor and scrunches her nose at the wet spot on it before yanking it over her head.

Jughead’s already finished buttoning his shirt back up when they recognize the voices being Ethel and Midge from the other side of the room.

Grabbing his hand, Betty guides Jughead past the lockers, sneaking them out without being caught.

Out in the hall, she releases a breath and gives an incredulous chuckle. “That could’ve ended so badly… Jug?”

Jughead’s facing a row of lockers in the hallway, away from her.

Walking with a furrowed brow, Betty rubs his arm and rests her back against the metal, placing herself in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

Jughead glances up at her with an almost embarrassed look before looking away. “I uh, I just need a moment to…”

The words trail off but Betty catches their meaning. Her cheeks flare with heat and her eyes flicker down before snapping back up to see a blush on his own face. Pressing her lips together, she brings a hand up to her lips and releases a small nervous giggle.

“Sure, laugh it up, Cooper.” Jughead resorts to his dry tone, but she sees the light in his eyes. Embarrassed or not, he’s still besotted with her. “This is your fault.”

“Oh, really?” Betty cocks a brow, lowering her hand and resting it on his neck in a genuinely innocent gesture.

However, Jughead groans and drops his head onto the locker in front of him with a dull ‘ _thunk’_. “Okay, that’s not helping.”

“What?” Betty blinks, pulling her hand away. “No touching?”

“You’re making it worse.”

“I’m not doing anything!”

“That’s the problem.” Jughead grumbles, moving his hands up to adjust his beanie before dropping them back to his side. “Just being you, you’re…”

Heart fluttering in her chest, Betty looks down shyly and grabs his hand. “You’re such a romantic, Juggie.” She teases with a sly grin.

Jughead gives her a playful narrow look. “Now you’re just being absurd.”

“You _are_!” She argues before moving forward to give him a soft kiss that he leans heavily into. Betty revels in the feel of his lips against hers and the blanket of warmth his presence envelopes her in. When she pulls away, there’s a crooked smile on his face, soft, and reserved just for her.

“I’ll be in the editorial room. Find me when you’re not…” her eyes flicker downward briefly, “…incapacitated.”

Her smirk is enough to pull a rough exhaled chuckle from Jughead as his eyes narrowly regard her coquettishness.

What is it that causes a person to fall in love?

Betty doesn’t know the answer, not for certain. She may never know the universal perplexity that is human emotion or the ties it strings in bringing two people together because of it.

But as Jughead’s gaze lingers on her retreating form, Betty realizes she doesn’t have to know to feel it. Because love, in all its complexity and unexpectedness, is there between them.

It’s there in their mutual compassion and understanding. It’s there in their friendship and their passion. It’s there in the touches and glances and playfulness and companionship.

With a look over her shoulder to Jughead, Betty bites her lip and smiles to herself.

She doesn’t know the full cause of how or why, but she’s in love.

Betty Cooper in love with Jughead Jones

Love, uninterrupted.

 


End file.
